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War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Europe Goes Nuclear; Interview with Vladimir Lomeiko, 1986

Vladimir Lomeiko was head of Press Department of the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1984-1986. He was a key spokesman for the ministry and also for President Mikhail Gorbachev. In the interview, he describes the differences between Western and Soviet attitudes toward the German question after World War II. He recalls the formation of NATO and asserts that the six-year delay before the creation of the Warsaw Pact was a sign of the USSRs desire not to produce a split in Europe. He disputes the Western rationale for forming its alliance. He recalls that the introduction of nuclear weapons in Britain met with the usual regretful reaction in the USSR. Similarly, Frances acquisition of the bomb was significant even though the two countries traditionally had more in common. He recounts his memory of being in Berlin during that crisis in the early 1960s. The interview then switches to nuclear issues, with Mr. Lomeiko assessing the massive retaliation doctrine and commenting that it is based on the myth of a Soviet threat. To his mind, the underlying explanation for the arms race in Europe is the military-industrial complex, an idea he explores at length.

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The first atomic explosion in the New Mexico desert on July 16, 1945, changed the world forever. This series chronicles these changes and the history of a new era. It traces the development of nuclear weapons, the evolution of nuclear strategy, and the politics of a world with the power to destroy itself.

In thirteen one-hour programs that combine historic footage and recent interviews with key American, Soviet, and European participants, the nuclear age unfolds: the origin and evolution of nuclear weapons; the people of the past who have shaped the events of the present; the ideas and issues that political leaders, scientists, and the public at large must confront, and the prospects for the future. Nuclear Age highlights the profound changes in contemporary thinking imposed by the advent of nuclear weapons.
Series release date: 1/1989

Program Description

France and England rush to acquire their own nuclear weapons, NATO worries about the threat from the East, and Europe becomes the most nuclear-saturated place on Earth.

British and American scientists worked side by side to build the first nuclear bombs. “There was a strong desire on the British side for that collaboration to continue into peacetime. There was no such desire on the part of the United States,” recalls British diplomat Roger Makins, Lord Sherfield. Britain decided to proceed on its own and in 1952 joined the US and the Soviets in what pundits would call “the nuclear club.” General Charles De Gaulle, president of France, wanted to join the club, too, and not rely on the US for nuclear protection. Prestige was also an issue. In 1960, France exploded its first atomic weapon. Since World War II the Soviet Union had had a superiority in conventional forces in Europe. NATO countered by deploying thousands of nuclear weapons. “They were accepted as being perfectly reasonable weapons to use in a tactical battle in continental Europe,” said Sir Richard Powell of the British Defense Ministry.